Craigo 0 Posted December 14, 2008 are these 1.6 calipers? i have just swapped to the 1.9 calipers that i have bought, and was confused taking these off as they have no yokes! they are a lot bigger physically than the 1.9 calipers, but have the same size piston iirc, also they use different pads! also after fitting the 1.9 calipers, and braided hoses, and taking the car out for a spin, they dont seem to be working that well!! have bled new fluid throughout the system, but the pedal is still very spongy. when braking hard the rears lock and try and overtake the front, not good!! anyone have any idea what ive done wrong? the calipers that were on it did work fine, we just swapped as it was noted on here to be a good upgrade!! at the moment its not!! thanks for answering my endless brake questions!! craig Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fenton 1,541 Posted December 14, 2008 The calipers pictured are 1600 calipers. If the pedal is spongy then you have air in the system, keep bleeding. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shalmaneser 26 Posted December 14, 2008 when i did the swap i needed to bleed it tons, give it a day for the air to 'settle' then bleed it all right through again. deffo 1.6 calis. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Miles 331 1 Cars Posted December 15, 2008 If anything the 1.6 calipers are better, lighter too But back on track give the brake system another bleed, if not might be worth replacing the M/S Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob Thomson 6 Posted December 15, 2008 If anything the 1.6 calipers are better, lighter too Having finally got my 1.6 back on the road after its rebuild, one of the things that constantly amazes me is how good the standard brakes are. The 1.6 brakes seem to get a good slagging on here, but mine are plenty powerful, fade free (on the road at least) and wonderfully feelsome. Proper. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fenton 1,541 Posted December 15, 2008 I agree with you Rob, I find the standard 1600 brakes in good order more than up to the job, the main thing is to keep the rear drums adjusted up, as otherwise the pedal gets long and they are not so nice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Craigo 0 Posted December 15, 2008 i will try and bleed them through again, if that doesnt work ill prob go back to the 1.6 calis as they did work fine, i just read on here that 1.9's were 'better' so assumed it was a logical modification!!! that teaches me that i should just try what i have first!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthony 1,003 Posted December 15, 2008 I've swapped several 1.6's with distinctly mediocre (at best) brakes over to 1.9 calipers, and I've always found them to be a big improvement. If yours are noticeably worse, and offer so little braking that the rears lock up first, then there's something badly amiss IMO. Make sure that the sliders are free moving on the 1.9 calipers as they can sieze and cause poor braking, and if you didn't replace the disks make sure there's not a lip worn on them that the new calipers/pads are trying to brake against, otherwise again you'll have poor stopping power until the pads wear against the lip. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Craigo 0 Posted December 15, 2008 I've swapped several 1.6's with distinctly mediocre (at best) brakes over to 1.9 calipers, and I've always found them to be a big improvement. If yours are noticeably worse, and offer so little braking that the rears lock up first, then there's something badly amiss IMO. Make sure that the sliders are free moving on the 1.9 calipers as they can sieze and cause poor braking, and if you didn't replace the disks make sure there's not a lip worn on them that the new calipers/pads are trying to brake against, otherwise again you'll have poor stopping power until the pads wear against the lip. where/what are these sliders? the discs have no lip and pads are in good condition, so its strange to me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Baz 421 Posted December 15, 2008 Somehting definitely not right, 1.9 calipers straight on 1.6's are an excellent upgrade, not much need for anything else IMO. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites